Application Form
Instructions
Complete the on-line SSRES 2021 Application form (below). Please fill in the requested information and click “Submit your application” at the bottom of the page.
Prepare a personal statement of academic goals and/or career plans. Explain how the study of Russian language and the enrollment in an Eurasian Studies course
(if applying) at Nazarbayev University (Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan) will further your goals. Your statement should be no more than 300 words. You will need to insert
this statement into one of the fields in this application.
Have all your college transcripts ready. We accept unofficial transcripts.
Arrange for one letter of recommendation to be sent directly to the program director (Amanda Murphy at amanda.murphy@nu.edu.kz) on your behalf. The
subject line of the email should say “ Recommendation Letter for Student’s FirstName LastName (SSRES 2021) ”
Requirements for the letter of recommendation
Letters of recommendation should come from an official university email address and contain the full contact information of the person providing the recommendation.
The letters should comment on the student’s academic abilities (if the letter is coming from a language instructor, it should
compare the student’s work in a language class to that to that of his or her other classmates); they should speak about the student’s
potential to handle the challenges of a language and cultural immersion program, as well as provide any other relevant information about the student.
We encourage you to apply as early as you can!
Step 2
Step 3
Educational Information (General):
Instructions: Answer only those questions that are relevant to your situation
1. If you are currently a student enrolled in a degree program, list your future degree, year in the program, and expected date of graduation: (If you are not currently a student, please write N/A)
2. If you are a graduate student, list your degree program and your year in the program:
3. If you are currently not enrolled in a degree program, list your highest degree earned, major, and the year the degree was granted:
4. If you are currently employed, provide the following information:
Educational Information (Kazakh): *
Evaluate your current knowledge of Kazakh by providing thorough and complete answers
to the following questions. When answering these questions, describe your knowledge of Kazakh,
depending on which program you are applying for. The information that you provide is very
important to us and it will be used for program planning.
Your answers to these questions do not guarantee or determine your placement in a specific level.
The actual placement into courses will be done when you arrive to Astana on the basis of entrance proficiency testing.
5. List the titles of the textbooks that you used for studying Kazakh and the courses in which you used them (e.g. 1st-semester Kazakh)
6. Have you studied Kazakh abroad? If yes, how long (a semester, a year...)? Name the program that you participated in and the city/country where you lived:
7. Please, rate your level of Kazakh in each of the following categories (Nazarbayev University uses NCSSFL-ACTFL Global
Can-Do Benchmarks to evaluate your proficiency). For each category (interpersonal communication, interpretive listening,
interpretive reading) select one description that best describes your abilities in this category *
Interpersonal Communication
Novice low
Novice mid
Novice high
Intermediate low
Intermediate mid
Intermediate high
Advanced low
Advanced mid
Advanced high
Superior
Interpretive Listening
Novice low
Novice mid
Novice high
Intermediate low
Intermediate mid
Intermediate high
Advanced low
Advanced mid
Advanced high
Superior
Interpretive Reading
Novice low
Novice mid
Novice high
Intermediate low
Intermediate mid
Intermediate high
Advanced low
Advanced mid
Advanced high
Superior
Educational Information (Russian):
Evaluate your current knowledge of Russian by providing thorough and complete answers to the
following questions. When answering these questions, describe your knowledge of Russian, depending
on which program you are applying for. The information that you provide is very important to
us and it will be used for program planning. Your answers to these questions do not guarantee
or determine your placement in a specific level. The actual placement into courses will be done
when you arrive to Astana on the basis of entrance proficiency testing.
5. List the titles of the textbooks that you used for studying Russian and the courses in which you used them (e.g. 1st-semester Russian).
6. Have you studied Russian abroad? If yes, how long (a semester, a year...)? Name the program that you participated in and the city/country where you lived:
7. Please, rate your level of Russian in each of the following categories (Nazarbayev University uses NCSSFL-ACTFL Global
Can-Do Benchmarks to evaluate your proficiency). For each category (interpersonal communication, interpretive listening,
interpretive reading) select one description that best describes your abilities in this category *
Interpersonal Communication
Novice low
Novice mid
Novice high
Intermediate low
Intermediate mid
Intermediate high
Advanced low
Advanced mid
Advanced high
Superior
Interpretive Listening
Novice low
Novice mid
Novice high
Intermediate low
Intermediate mid
Intermediate high
Advanced low
Advanced mid
Advanced high
Superior
Interpretive Reading
Novice low
Novice mid
Novice high
Intermediate low
Intermediate mid
Intermediate high
Advanced low
Advanced mid
Advanced high
Superior
8. Please write a brief essay describing how your summer language study fits into your academic goals and career plans.
Can-Do Benchmarks to evaluate your proficiency). For each category (interpersonal communication, interpretive listening,
interpretive reading) select one description that best describes your abilities in this category *
Statement of Academic Goals and Career Plans *
Letter of Recommendation
One letter of recommendation should be emailed to the program director separately (see the Instructions section of this form for more information).
Requirements for the letter of recommendation
The letter of recommendation should come from an official university email address and contain the full contact information of
the person providing the recommendation. The letters should comment on the student’s academic abilities (if the letter is coming
from a language instructor, it should compare the student’s work in a language class to that to that of his or her other classmates);
they should speak about the student’s potential to handle the challenges of a language and cultural immersion program, as well as
provide any other relevant information about the student.
Enter contact details of the person supplying a letter on your behalf here
Full name of the person providing the letter:
Academic affiliation of the recommender and/or employer and job title:
Full contact information of the recommender:
Financial Information
Academics
In addition to the 8-week Intensive Russian or Kazakh course, the program includes an optional free course on Kazakh language and culture.
You may also choose to enroll in an additional elective course in Russian and Eurasian Area Studies. These elective courses are part of
Nazarbayev University regular curriculum, and you will be taking them together with local students.
Nazarbayev University will work with your home institution on the transfer of credits that you will earn (both for the Russian course and for the elective).
Housing Information